


In This Together

by ArkadyFinch (ArkadyFlinch)



Category: Original Work
Genre: (i am but not seriously and not in any readable format), Aliens, F/F, Other, Pregnancy, Robots, an AI who knows nothing about babies and is perplexed, yet another good setup for a series im not writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 14:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14190885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArkadyFlinch/pseuds/ArkadyFinch
Summary: Selk is a refugee who crashed on an uninhabited planet shortly after fleeing her homeworld. After living in the wild for a few weeks a benevolent AI named Nona picks her up.After a few months of wandering space together she begins suspecting she has feelings for the charismatic AI.





	In This Together

She’d known she was in trouble long before she’d boarded the _Rebel_. Maybe she’d known when she first met its captain, though for different reasons. Maybe it’d been when she’d heard a strange drawling voice issue from the captain, completely at odds with how they looked, that asked what a pretty little thing like her was doing all alone in the middle of nowhere. She’d still been wary, then, so maybe it’d been suspicion twisting in her gut, and not this strange attraction.

 

The facts were this; Selk was a war refugee, pregnant, and shipwrecked on an uninhabited planet somewhere on the fringes of traveled space. No civilized society would shelter her, her people were considered dangerous and wild. She could probably make it if she found an outpost outside of Human-held space, but there was no telling if she was going to be kidnapped and sent back to her home world or if she was to be captured and sent to a human colony. She honestly didn’t know what the climate was like. The last she’d heard, the humans were successfully “liberating” her people, and no other species was going to try to stop them.

The last thing she’d done before crashing here had been saying goodbye, and not just to her old home.

 

She peered over the screen she held to the Captain, who was doing some repair on their arm. Her arm curled protectively over her still small baby bump, and she returned her gaze to the screen, which had a frankly embarrassing amount of old movies. Mostly humans, to her displeasure, but the films looked so ludicrous she was enjoying the nearly unintelligible plot spiced up with explosions and acrobatics.

 

Maybe she’d officially been in trouble keeping a child in the middle of a war zone, but Selk was stubborn, and if it’s parent was dead - she didn’t even know - she was keeping it. If only to spit in the faces of the people who tore her home asunder.

 

Captain Nona had shown her news feeds, told her it wasn’t all humans who’d decided to intervene, only a specific group. Selk still blamed them. No one - absolutely no one - had helped them or spoken out about it. She’d looked. Outside of a few faceless text posts talking about it, no one acknowledged the war as anything but helpful. No one bothered to ask what the Artificier thought about it. Least of all people like Selk.

 

Maybe that’s what had started all of this. Trusting someone she knew so little about. Nona had appeared at her lowest point and not only was Nona not human, they weren’t anything Selk had ever seen. She’d tried to research what it was Nona could be, but there was a familiar lack of information, and a surprising amount of ill will towards AI like Nona.

Selk had never even thought AI were real until Nona.

 

Seeing something somehow more of an outcast than she was...it had made her choice - not that “starve” or “go with the Captain” was a choice - easier.

 

Now, though, they were a couple months into whatever this was. The original deal was to drop her off at the nearest self-governed outpost and hope for the best.

 

Then Nona realized how useful someone who knew their way around a ship was, and then they’d decided to look for a safe place. But they hadn’t talked about that plan for a while, and Nona seemed satisfied to keep Selk around to help update their ship. And Nona liked to make plans, at first Selk thought it was a joke, but Nona kept suggesting “showing her this amazing planet with the most _beautiful_ waterfalls” or “teaching her something about shooting mercenaries”.

 

As if woken from a dream, she’d realized how deep of troubled water she was in when Nona dropped off the comms during a refueling stop, only to show up with armfuls of mismatched clothing and a basket of fresh fruit.

 

Nothing, of course, from home, but Selk delighted in wearing something other than her armored jumper. And the fruit, though strange was sweet and made her feel less like she was surviving off of old expired dry rations.

 

That wasn’t all, though. They’d managed to find a chair with wheels so Selk could comfortably travel around without braces or crutches. It was a little old and creaking, clearly outdated, but it gave her independence and allowed her to move around as she pleased without worrying about fatigue.

 

“Comfy?” The Captain’s voice broke her out of her spell, and she jumped as she realized how close the Captain had come. Their metal body was tall and gangly, also outdated, but well maintained, if a bit scratched up. Big hands, thin, minimalist limbs, a chest plate that sported a burn and a sizeable dent, and a helmet that they’d made themself to encase their circuits. It was an odd shape, a bit wider at the flattened top, curving down to mimic the basic shape of a human head. No details, just the flat surface of metal surrounding their “eye”.

Nonas single “eye” glowed softly. What the Captain lacked in face they made up for it in gestures, tilting their head this way and that, hands moving as they talked, even rocking on their legs and swaying as they would describe one adventure or another they’d had.

 

Now their head was tilted, legs askance, and hands happily patting away at their belt, touching and counting the tools hanging from them as they waited for her to reply.

 

Without knowing why, Selk found herself blushing. “Y-Yeah...thanks again.”

 

“Is something wrong? Is it the baby? Is it kicking yet? You promised to let me feel if it does.”

 

Once Selk had slipped up and mentioned being pregnant she’d found out that no one asked questions like an AI. Nona could, feasibly, look everything up online, but their mouth ran faster than their brain, somehow, and they ask endless questions if she didn’t stop them. They also knew nothing about babies, which was strangely endearing paired with their eagerness to help out with whatever she needed.

 

She’d been stopped short before, when asked how old it was, and when she couldn’t exactly remember the day it could have been conceived, she’d been barraged with question after question - why was it only aged when it was out? How come she didn’t know? Does it sleep in there? When will it come out? Okay but _when?_

 

That was actually the next thing they’d planned. She needed a doctor that was discreet and also available for more than one visit. Right now they were headed to a place that Nona knew where someone apparently owed them a favor.

 

Snapping back out of her thoughts, she shook her head, “We are nowhere _near_ it being able to kick. I’m fine, really, just thinking…”

 

“Oh? About what? I’ve been thinking, too, well, doing. Look-“

 

They waved a hand over the central console of the table -a completely useless guesture, they controlled the whole ship by thought alone - and it lit up, showing several screens with data on them. Selk wheeled closer to squint at it, reading here and there, but unsure of what she was seeing.

 

“Since taking you aboard I’ve been thinking lots. Where would a safe place for you be? Nowhere I can’t see you, of course, no one’s keeping you safer than me, right? Oh...that sounds bad, well, hear me out okay?”

 

They put a hand on her shoulder and she chuckled at their rapid speech. They’d spent money on a good translator after the first few disastrous days of looking up words in her language out of dictionaries.

 

“You’re not safe on your own. A lone Artificier is a mad scientist waiting to happen, no one trusts that. An Artificier with _her own ship_ , though? Equally dangerous but no one will fuck with her, she has a ship, and a crew who will miss her.”

 

They spun on one heel, joints groaning as they rotated on the ball joint of one knee, throwing their arms wide, “I’m not safe alone either, a droid alone on a ship is too suspicious, plus the “I’m human I just don’t like leaving my ship” excuse is only good the first time. Security is getting stricter, and someone like me needs to have an owner.”

 

Selk read her name on the title deed to the ship and placed her hand on her mouth, eyes growing wide. Next to it, Nona’s fake id for their “human self”, a title of transfer.

 

“You can’t-“ she croaked, shaken, as she read and reread the documents - admittedly falsified, but undeniably official looking.

 

“Already did, sweetie pie, these are real. Well, the transfer is. Your id is fake, but after a few years living using it, no one can tell the difference, trust me.”

 

She dropped her screen and struggled to her feet, leaning heavily on the table. “You can’t give me the ship!”

 

“Darlin’ I _am_ the ship. And I ain’t giving you free reign to do what you want with me - mostly. It’ll be a partner-ship.” They grabbed her hands, excitement running through them in the way their machinery hummed and they intently looked at her face.

 

“You’re giving me to-“ she squeezed their hands, suddenly laughing, “This sounds like those cheesy marriage proposals in your films, Captain.”

 

They shook their head, “You’re Captain now. And for what it’s worth, if you _want_ this to be a proposal, I wouldn’t say no.” Uncharacteristically they were suddenly interested in the boots crammed on the ends of their distinctly not foot-shaped feet.

 

Selk had to take a moment to absorb all of this, looking wonderingly at the screen, then at Nona, mouth agape.

 

It was perfect. She didn’t trust anyone else, nowhere else would she feel safe enough with raising a kid, and there was no way anyone was getting aboard the ship without Nona’s permission. A Flying Fortress. She was the organic disguise Nona needed, and they were giving her the resources to defend herself.

 

She was free. This wasn’t just the ship. They were giving her the ability to go wherever she wanted, granted that she take them with her. No hiding from the war in a bunker somewhere, she would see the galaxy she’d resigned herself to hiding from.

 

Tears welled in her eyes and instantly Nona’s hands were everywhere, wiping her face, giving her weak, not-at-all reassuring pats, and generally waving everywhere uselessly. “Oh shit -too much? Sorry sorry I can always drop you off if you want - it just seemed the most efficient means - uh darlin please stop crying-“

 

Selk sniffed, loudly, then hugged them, stilling all of their efforts to make her feel better. Their hands danced, lightly over her back and held her, taking more of her weight as she leaned on them, suddenly aware of her legs and how much they hated standing.

With a laugh they set her back down in her chair and kneeled before her, taking her hands again, their own hands easily covering hers. “Look I don’t want you to think I’m pushing things too fast - the months we’ve had together were the happiest I can remember. And this really would work for the both of us. I know how awful it is feeling trapped and unsafe, together we can both be safe _and_ free.”

 

Selk Bit her lip and nodded, trying to keep herself from breaking down completely. This was the nicest thing anyone’s ever done.

 

“And, well, I gotta see what the little tyke turns out to be now, don’t I?”

 

That last comment broke her, and she leaned forward, quietly shaking on their cold metal shoulder. They were lonely, just like she was. And she wasn’t sure about the marriage thing - not yet - but she definitely wanted to stay aboard and see where things took them.

 

Realizing she hadn’t answered, Selk pulled herself together and pulled away. “Thank you. I just...I can’t thank you enough.” She wiped her eyes, then grinned sheepishly, “How about co-captain though? I don’t know anything about running a ship.”

 

Nona squeezed her hands then released them, standing and running a hand carefully through Selk’s hair, “Luckily for you, your ship runs itself.”

 


End file.
